US court indicts Nigerian, others for $14bn healthcare fraud

 

 The United States of America has charged a Nigerian, Olatunbosun Osukoya, alongside 323 others, following a nationwide crackdown on alleged perpetrators of health care fraud schemes that have caused the country at least $14bn in intended losses, the US Department of Justice stated.

According to a statement obtained from the DOJ website on Thursday, the defendants included doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals who allegedly exploited patients and taxpayers.

“The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals, in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving over $14.6bn in intended loss.”

Stressing the alleged role of Osukoya in the scheme, the statement noted that as the owner of a diagnostic centre, the 67-year-old submitted over $25m in fraudulent medical claims to insurers.

The statement alleged that Osukoya sought out individuals with insurance to undergo expensive lab testing, recruited and paid bribes to medical professionals to refer patients to his laboratory.

It read, “Olatunbosun Osukoya, 67, of Plano, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with the submission of over $25 million in false and fraudulent medical claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and other insurers for electroencephalogram testing.

“As alleged in the indictment, Osukoya, the owner of Ayo Biometrics, LLC d/b/a Cambridge Diagnostics, sought out individuals with insurance plans to undergo expensive EEG testing and recruited and paid kickbacks and bribes to physicians and others to refer patients to Cambridge Diagnostics.

“To conceal the scheme and to make it appear that the services were necessary, Osukoya and his co-conspirators allegedly falsified diagnoses and falsely labelled kickback payments as loans, medical directorships, and consultation fees, among other things.”

The statement alleged further that the defendant received over $5m for the claims and paid over $450,000 in illegal kickbacks.

“Osukoya, through Cambridge Diagnostics, was paid over $5 million for the claims and is alleged to have paid out over $450,000 in illegal kickbacks,” the statement concluded.